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<title>Redirector Type</title>
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<h2 id="redirector">I/O redirection</h2>
<p><em>Since Apache Ant 1.6.2</em></p>
<p>For many tasks, input and output can be defined in a fairly straightforward fashion.
The <a href="../Tasks/exec.html">exec</a> task, used to execute an external process, stands as a
very basic example.  The executed process may accept input, produce output, or do either or both
depending upon various circumstances.  Output may be classified as <em>output</em> or
as <em>error output</em>.  The <code>&lt;redirector&gt;</code> type provides a concrete means of
redirecting input and output featuring the use of <a href="./mapper.html">File Mapper</a>s to
specify source (input) and destination (output/error) files.</p>
<p>The <code>&lt;redirector&gt;</code> element accepts the following attributes:</p>
<table class="attr">
  <tr>
    <th scope="col">Attribute</th>
    <th scope="col">Description</th>
    <th scope="col">Required</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>output</td>
    <td>Name of a file to which output should be written.  If the error stream is not also
      redirected to a file or property, it will appear in this output.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>error</td>
    <td>The file to which the standard error of the command should be redirected.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>logError</td>
    <td>This attribute is used when you wish to see error output in Ant's log and you are
      redirecting output to a file/property. The error output will not be included in the output
      file/property.</td>
    <td>No; ignored if <var>error</var> or <var>errorProperty</var>
    is set</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>append</td>
    <td>Whether output and error files should be appended to rather than overwritten.</td>
    <td>No; defaults to <q>false</q></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>createemptyfiles</td>
    <td>Whether output and error files should be created even when empty.</td>
    <td>No; defaults to <q>true</q></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>outputproperty</td>
    <td>The name of a property in which the output of the command should be stored. Unless the
      error stream is redirected to a separate file or stream, this property will include the
      error output.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>errorproperty</td>
    <td>The name of a property in which the standard error of the command should be stored.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>input</td>
    <td>A file from which the executed command's standard input is taken. This attribute is
      mutually exclusive with the <var>inputstring</var> attribute.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>inputstring</td>
    <td>A string which serves as the input stream for the executed command. This attribute is
      mutually exclusive with the <var>input</var> attribute.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>inputencoding</td>
    <td>The input encoding.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>outputencoding</td>
    <td>The output encoding.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>errorencoding</td>
    <td>The error encoding.</td>
    <td>No</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>alwayslog</td>
    <td>Always send to the log in addition to any other destination. <em>Since Ant 1.6.3</em></td>
    <td>No; default is <q>false</q></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>loginputstring</td>
    <td>Controls the display of <var>inputstring</var>'s value in log messages. Set
      to <q>false</q> when sending sensitive data (e.g. passwords) to external
      processes. <em>Since Ant 1.6.3</em></td>
    <td>No; default is <q>true</q></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>binaryOutput</td>
    <td>When set to <q>true</q> Ant will not try to split the output into lines&mdash;which it
      will usually do in order to separate error from normal output.  This setting will not
      prevent binary output from getting corrupted if you also specify filter chains.
      <em>Since Ant 1.9.4</em>
    </td>
    <td>No; default is <q>false</q></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<h3>Parameters specified as nested elements</h3>
<h4>inputmapper</h4>
<p>A single <a href="./mapper.html">File Mapper</a> used to redirect process input.  Multiple
mapping results should concatenate all mapped files as input.  Mapping will ordinarily be
performed on a task-specified sourcefile; consult the documentation of the individual task for
more details.  A nested <code>&lt;inputmapper&gt;</code> is not compatible with either of the
<var>input</var> or <var>inputstring</var> attributes.</p>
<h4>outputmapper</h4>
<p>A single <a href="./mapper.html">File Mapper</a> used to redirect process output.  Mapping
will ordinarily be performed on a task-specified sourcefile; consult the documentation of the
individual task for more details.  A nested <code>&lt;outputmapper&gt;</code> is not compatible
with the <var>output</var> attribute.</p>
<h4>errormapper</h4>
<p>A single <a href="./mapper.html">File Mapper</a> used to redirect error output.  Mapping will
ordinarily be performed on a task-specified sourcefile; consult the documentation of the
individual task for more details.  A nested <code>&lt;errormapper&gt;</code> is not compatible
with the <var>error</var> attribute.</p>
<h4>inputfilterchain</h4>
<p>A <a href="./filterchain.html">FilterChain</a> can be applied to the process input.</p>
<h4>outputfilterchain</h4>
<p>A <a href="./filterchain.html">FilterChain</a> can be applied to the process output.</p>
<h4>errorfilterchain</h4>
<p>A <a href="./filterchain.html">FilterChain</a> can be applied to the error output.</p>
<h3>Usage</h3>
<p>Tasks known to support I/O redirection:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="../Tasks/exec.html">Exec</a></li>
<li><a href="../Tasks/apply.html">Apply</a></li>
<li><a href="../Tasks/java.html">Java</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The expected behavior of a <code>&lt;redirector&gt;</code> is to a great degree dependent on
the supporting task.  Any possible points of confusion should be noted at the task level.</p>

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